Laurence_Smith
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 p.1 #1 · Holocene Glacial Cut, Misty Waterfall, Quinault Valley, Olympic National Park | |
Quinault Valley
This waterfall is spilling over the Holocene glacial cut about 300 feet off the flat valley floor.
Actually had to rappel onto this ledge from above, so was extra careful, as I don't really like to depend on a rope and harness. Checked, doubled checked, and triple checked all rope and harness knots and connections. A couple of 'lean backs' on rope tension before committing myself, looking at the pattern of the rope bends and knots again, just to be sure.
This one is from the vintage Yashica Mat camera that I had refurbished by Hama a few years ago. It's silky smooth, and I treat it gently, especially when winding, and that applies to all my camera gear. I also had the GX680 with me as well, along with other useful stuff. The pack was heavy, but I was able to lower it nicely onto the ledge before getting down there myself.
Of COURSE, the sun didn't originally cooperate, so waited about 90 minutes for the sun angle to start highlighting the spray. No problem though - I had my coffee kit and small stove with me.
In fact, ended up hanging around here for about 5 hours and I think 3 cups of coffee, shooting not only the falls, but the stuff around the ledge I was on. 🙂 It was nice to sort of 'settle down' in one spot - I DID keep attached to the rope though, just for peace of mind.
The sound of the falling water was mostly just a hiss, and would change modulation when wind gusts rose up out of the valley and mixed with the downdraft wind. Sometimes the mist would get lifted up and create swirls, but I was not able to capture those efficiently.
Anyway, the refurbed Yashica is back in business. And I had a quite enjoyable time. I will do more of that. Good for the soul, and peaceful when you are looking down to the valley road 'way down there' through the trees, with the seemingly 'toy cars' motoring through the woods.
Velvia film - maybe not the perfect choice of film, but it's all I had in the fridge - so naturally in this high contrast situation, I just used Sunny 16 for the brights, and let the shadows fall where they wanted to go, and actually lucked out to have at least enough shadow detail to keep the picture together. It's all a compromise. 
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